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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26162185">Reaching for Understanding</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittyhawke56/pseuds/Kittyhawke56'>Kittyhawke56</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, soft!mason</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:27:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,783</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26162185</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittyhawke56/pseuds/Kittyhawke56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The detective seeks solitude in the one place she can think of, the roof.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Female Detective/Mason (The Wayhaven Chronicles)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Reaching for Understanding</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Around the warehouse the world was peaceful, the last rays of the sunset painting the trees in vibrant pink and orange hues. No sound save that of a soft breeze rustling through the leaves of the surrounding forest. Kat sat on the roof of the deceptively crumbling building, leaning back on her hands, face upturned into the warmth of the last of the sunshine. Mischievous breezes pulling curls out of place, sending them dancing playfully around her face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beside her, a battered guitar case sat, top open to reveal the instrument inside. The instrument looked as though it might be as old as the case, the strap showing its age with fraying ends and faded spots, though the wood and strings showed obvious signs of loving attention. The playful breeze danced across the strings, adding a harmony to the murmur of the trees. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ostensibly, Kat had come out here to play. The roof was somewhere her music wouldn’t bother the other inhabitants of the warehouse. An argument could be made that this was Mason’s spot more than hers, he was the only other person she ever ran into out here. In fact it had been he who introduced her to the joys of roof sitting. But he wasn’t usually out here until after the sun went down, and he’d never indicated irritation with her being there, so she used it to practice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Today this might not have been the only draw to the solitude of the roof though. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rebecca had stopped by, probably on agency business, but Kat hadn’t stayed long enough to find out. She’d slipped out of the room, then out of the window as soon as she heard her mother was coming. While Kat very much appreciated Rebecca’s fumbling attempts to connect, she just couldn’t handle them today. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She let her head fall back a little further, eyes closing as she breathed deeply. The dark, vibrantly alive scent of the woods relaxing her as she let thoughts of her mother slip away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The gentle susurrus of leaves was interrupted by the sound of footsteps across the rooftop behind her. She didn’t bother to open her eyes, only one person would know to come out here to find her. The quiet rustling of clothing told her he was settling down beside her, and she smiled lazily in his general direction, eyes still closed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were several minutes of companionable silence before Mason spoke. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You sure you should leave the top open like that?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kat opened her eyes to look over at him in confusion, brain racing to catch up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mason sat next to her, legs dangling from the edge of the roof, the low hanging sun gilding his features. The same playful breeze tugging at her curls danced his dark hair across his face, and Kat had a sudden urge to reach out and tuck it out of the way. Idly she wondered if it was as soft as it looked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He caught her looking and raised one dark brow, a small smirk tugging at his mouth. He looked beyond her meaningfully, at the guitar on her other side. A blush krept up onto her cheeks when she realized she’d gotten so caught up in looking at him that she had forgotten he’d asked a question. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She turned her head to look at her instrument, hoping he wouldn’t notice her flushed cheeks. With gentle fingers she stroked the strings, smiling at the warm, mellow sound they made. “She likes a little sun now and again. It’s good for her,” Kat arched her back, stretching her arms over her head for a moment, very aware of the way Mason’s eyes followed the curve of her body. Keeping her smile to herself she held the pose for a moment or two longer than strictly necessary. “It’s good for me too, can’t stay holed up underground forever.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mason snorted, “So that’s why you’re out here? To sun yourself and your guitar? I thought you came out to play the damn thing.”He leaned toward her till his face hovered only a couple of inches away from hers, voice low he said, “or perhaps there’s another reason you’re out here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The closeness of him had Kat’s voice seizing in her throat, and she struggled to reign in the desire to lean forward and capture his lips with her own. Then she frowned as his words caught up with her staggering thoughts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She leaned away from him, eyes narrowing, “Did she send you out to find me?” A small part of her didn’t like that idea. This had been much more pleasant when she thought he’d joined her simply because he wanted to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not exactly,” He leaned back onto his hands, letting his head fall back and eyes close, shaking his dark hair out of his face so the waves fell past his shoulders, “She did wonder where you’d got off to though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kat stared at him, brow furrowed, wondering what his game was. Cracking an eye open he smirked at her, leaning a bit further back and rolling his shoulders slightly so his jacket slipped down his arms. The tight, long sleeved tee-shirt he wore hugged the taught, lean muscles of his torso and Kat’s eyes strayed over him without meaning too. She caught his eye again, His smirk turning to something more sultry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Face on fire she swung herself back around, closing her guitar case to give her hands something to do. She smoothed her hand over the chess piece embossed on the top. That design was one of the reasons she’d had the case repaired several times instead of replaced. She could probably get another case made exactly like this one, but it wouldn’t be </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>chess piece. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s on the top of your case?” Mason's question startled her out of her momentary reverie. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She traced the image with a careful finger, smile turning sad. “It’s a Rook. This was my dad’s guitar.”  There was a long silence, and Kat found herself having to blink back unexpected tears. When she finally did turn back to Mason, he’d redonned his jacket, and there was an oddly tender look in his eyes.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Voice soft in the gathering darkness he asked “Did he play much?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know,” Kat clasped her hands in her lap, worrying at the edge of her skirt, “He must have, it was pretty well used when I got it.” She made herself leave her dress alone and looked back at the vampire next to her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A small frown creased his brow as he looked her over. “Really didn’t know him very well did you,” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kat shook her head, “I was only two when he died, but I’ve been told we’re a lot alike.” She reached over and caressed the case again, “I guess this is just another way to feel close to him.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m surprised you’re not closer to Agent Langford then. Family seems like a big deal to you.” There was a slight edge of mocking in Mason’s tone when he spoke, and Kat swung her head around to glare at him so fast she nearly pulled something in her neck. He met her gaze unapologetically, a slight quirk to an eyebrow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Several hot retorts tried to shove their way out of her mouth, but she managed to bite down on them. While it wasn’t nice to hear, he wasn’t exactly wrong, and it wouldn’t be fair of her to bite his head off over it. Instead she focused on relaxing her fists and unclenching her jaw. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally she forced herself to say, “We’re trying, it’s just, really really hard.” Kat looked down at her hands, surprised to find her nails had dug half moons into her palms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s a good agent, one of the best handlers we’ve had,” Mason volunteered, “and she cares about you.” This last was said a bit awkwardly. The defense of her mother sounded so odd coming from the usually surly vampire that it surprised Kat into looking at him again. He shrugged a bit, fishing his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, though he only fiddled with the carton. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raising a brow, Kat watched him for a moment before shaking her head. Hugging her knees to her chest she rested her forehead on them.  “A good agent isn’t what I needed, Mason.” She spoke the words into her legs, not wanting him to see her expression. “I know she cares. She’d burn the world to keep me safe, but,” the sharp, brittle feeling she often got when talking about her mother sharpening her voice as she continued, “But she could never get the time off to come listen to me play. I don’t think she even knows I have dad’s guitar. She never picked me up and fixed a scraped knee. She was never there to help with homework, or a broken heart.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span> Embarrassed by her outburst, Kat flushed again. “Sorry, you probably didn’t come out here for ‘tragic backstory’ hour.” She glanced at Mason out of the corner of her eye, but the shadows had grown to the point where his face was barely visible. She couldn’t make out his expression.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gave a noncommittal noise. Then, as if sensing it wouldn’t be enough, said gruffly, “I did kind of invite it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She smiled at him, relaxing with his, albeit reluctant, acceptance. Then she shivered a little. With the night’s approach the playful breeze from earlier had a little more of a bite to it, and she hadn’t brought her cardigan out with her. Reluctant to go, she gathered herself and stood, pulling the guitar case with her. She smiled down at Mason. From her higher vantage there was just enough light that she could see his faintly disappointed expression as he watched her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re leaving?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She adjusted the case in her hand before answering, “Yeah, it’s getting cold.” She glanced at him slyly from under her lashes, “I’d ask to borrow your jacket, but I don't think I could carry you inside once you froze solid.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A smirk spread across his lips, and he quirked an eyebrow at her,  “I can think of other ways to keep warm, sweetheart.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kat grinned at him, “as if you ever think of anything else, Sunshine.” Her smile faltered a little, and she glanced away, “Thanks for listening, Mason.” She looked back at him, but his gaze had turned to the trees already. He gave a shrug, and she figured that was as much of a reply as she was going to get. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Trudging back toward the window, Kat didn’t see the way Mason's eyes followed her till she disappeared into the hallway. </span>
</p>
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